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Elizabeth Bathory born in 1950, and was a member of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in Hungary. her family had powerful and wealthy member who controlled entire countries, such as the lands controlled by Stephen Bathory (her uncle). As a young girl Elizabeth was surrounded my many servants and peasants who constantly fulfilled her needs, this gave her great power and control. At the age of 5 she began experiencing violent seizures, caused by an unknown neurological disorder. This could possibly have led to her horrid behaviour during her older life. As a child she also experienced horrific torture of a gypsy.

At the age of 11 Bathory married 16 year old Ferenc Nadasdy. Ferenc was a warrior and wasn’t often around, this led to Elizabeth alone in their castle. Here at the castle she managed the family seat and “the task of disciplining the servants”. One particular harsh punishment would be sicking “pins into the upper and lower lips of the girls, and under their fingernails”. Another punishment involved girls being dragged out into the snow, where she or a women servant poured cold water on them until they froze to death.

In 1600 Count Ferenc died, this was when Elizabeth’s true slaughters started. In an incident where a young servant girl was brushing Elizabeth’s hair. After pulling a bit too hard, in a momentary rage Elizabeth hit her against the face drawing blood. Elizabeth noticed after washing her hand the patch of skin where the blood was looked white and creamier, and believed she had found the secret to eternal youth.

Beginning at the age of 30, Elizabeth started capturing and torturing young women. Teenagers and women in their twenties were swept off the streets throughout villages around the castle and were locked in Bathory’s dungeon. These girls became Elizabeth’s servant girls and slaves. She drained their bodies of their blood and bathed in it, believing that it would help her reclaim her youth. She drained their bodies of their blood and bathed in it, believing that it would help her reclaim her youth. But Elizabeth didn’t get blood in any way that we would recognize today. She preferred to do it a bit more earthy-like. To get the blood that she wanted, she mercilessly tortured and killed hundreds of girls and young women, cutting them open, locking them in cages, flogging them to death or mutilating their bodies.

When the castle was raided in 1610, the governor found over 50 bodies in the castle alone. And another 30 in a cavern where the blood was kept. The death toll due to Elizabeth’s insanity rose and exceeded 650 girls. Bathory was locked up in a bricked-off part of the castle and died in 1614.

Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560, into one of the oldest and wealthiest families inHungary, being the niece of Stefan Bathory, the King of Poland. Around the age of 5, Bathory began to have violent seizures which were caused by an unknown neurological disorder, which may have led to her gruesome behaviour later in life. As a child, she always had servants and peasants around her to fulfil her every whim, which gave her a feeling of power and control. As a teenagerElizabethwas very intelligent, and quickly became fluent in Hungarian, Latin and German.

Elizabeth married in 1575, aged 15, to Count Ferenc, and lived with him Castle Csejthe inHungary. Count Ferenc was a soldier, and would often be away for months at a time, and as a result, would often have affairs with some of the male peasants at the castle.Elizabethwas dissatisfied. Despite being surrounded by servants and being of the highest nobility in the land, she began to seek other ways to spend her time. Elizabeth and her old nurse began to find ways of torturing the servant girls in the castle grounds.

In 1600, Count Ferenc died, which was whenElizabeth’s true atrocities began. When a young servant girl was brushingElizabeth’s hair, she pulled the brush a little too hard, and in a blind rageElizabethsmacked her across the face so hard she drew blood. After washing her hand,Elizabethin her insanity believed that the patch of skin where the blood was looked whiter and creamier than the rest of her hand, and in her anxiety of losing her beauty, she believed she had found the secret to eternal youth.

Elizabeth began to hire maids and henchmen who would go about and abduct young girls to become servants at her castle. She would then kill the girls, and drain their blood into a vat, which she would bathe in daily. This went on for ten whole years, and it is believed that the castle was never searched in the time as people were intimidated by her level of nobility and her wealth. When the castle was finally raided in 1610, the governor found over 50 bodies in the castle alone, and another 30 in a cavern nearby where the vat of blood was kept. The death toll as a result ofElizabeth’s insanity and monstrous actions exceeded 650 girls. Elizabethwas locked up in a bricked-off section of her castle, and eventually died in 1614.